MKTG 346 Spring 2017

Humor:
Serious
Business
Jennifer Aaker Naomi Bagdonas
General Atlantic Professor, Lecturer in Management,
Stanford GSB Stanford GSB
At a Glance An Overview
PRODUCERS
WHY YOU, oh fearless leader of the future (and maybe
HUMOR present), are very important. You will go on to make
critical and far-reaching economic, political, and social
decisions in your quest to change lives, organizations,
and the world. Thats serious stuff.
Jennifer Aaker Naomi Bagdonas
So, why humor? The late journalist Eric Sevareid said
A social psychologist Naomi designs and
Next to power without honor, the most dangerous thing
and marketer, Jennifer is facilities immersive
the General Atlantic workshops for groups in the world is power without humor. Our goal is to pin
Professor of Marketing of executives in you down and not let you leave Stanford without a
at Stanford Universitys Deloittes Greenhouse. healthy dose of humanity, humility, and intellectual
Graduate School of She has trained at The perspective that only humor can bring,
Business. Her research Upright Citizens Brigade
focuses on time, money, and BATS, worked at This class is about the power (and importance) of humor
and happiness. IDEO, and has been to make and scale positive change in the world, and also
Unanimously voted the making SNL-inspired surprise! to achieve business objectives, build more
least funny person in her shorts since before she effective and innovative organizations, cultivate stronger
family, Jennifer is could lift the VHS bonds, and capture more lasting memories.
definitely not teaching recorder. Naomi has
this class out of spite. since built muscle mass. We will explore various aspects of humor creation, reveal
(jaaker@stanford.edu) (naomi2@stanford.edu) insight into what makes people laugh, and provide tools
to harness humor safely and effectively in business.
SUPPORT Karina Longinidis (karinal@stanford.edu)
By the end of class, you should:
LEAD TAs Madilyn Ontiveros (madilyn@stanford.edu)
Grace Isford (gisford@stanford.edu) Discover your own humor style and the styles
of others, as well as understand strategic uses
of humor in business
WHEN Spring 2017 (4/10-6/5), Mondays, 3:00 5:50 PM
Learn techniques for crafting your funny, and
CoLab (@ the GSB) aka McClelland 101 experiment with different humor mediums
WHERE
Understand how to make humor a cultural and
OFFICE Naomi: Wednesdays from 10am-noon in E237 or by organizational practice, as well as how to embed
email appointment. Jennifer: Before each class @ 2:40. humor into your leadership style
HOURS
TA office hours: Mondays after each class in the CoLab Leave with tools to reinforce and amplify cultures
of levity
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 Class Flow The Laugh Track
DAY THE PUNCHLINE THE HUMORIST DUE

Day 1 Why Humor Us Humor Audit

Tapping into your humor 4/10 + Business Chem

1
Understand your unique style of humor and the styles Whats My Style You!
[60 min]
of others; notice moments when you laugh and make
others laugh. Dive into the risks and power dynamics Day 2 How Humor Lands Dan Klein (Stanford) Humor
of using humor in business. Begin to catalogue your 4/17 Nikhil Kalghatgi (Vast Ventures) Anthropologist
DISCOVER [just noticing stuff
signature stories and why you use them. How to Use Humor Bill Grundfest (Comedy Cellar) + 15 min writing]
(Strategically) Michael Kives (CAA)

Day 3 How to Talk Funny David Nihill (FunnyBizz) Humor Hero

Crafting your humor 4/24 [30 min]
(Field trip

2
Learn techniques for crafting (and even monetizing) @ IDEO) How to Design for Levity Andrew Evans (IDEO)
your funny, and experiment with humor creation. Brendan Boyle (IDEO)

Observe elements of organizational design that nurture Day 4 How to Unlock Humor You! Secret Mission
humor (and those that decidedly dont). Practice 5/1 [60 min]
PLAY
bringing humor into otherwise unfunny environments. How to Monetize Humor Mike Farah (Funny or Die)

Day 5 How to Lead with Humor Sara Blakely (Spanx) My Bio Made You
5/8 Gregg Spiridellis (JibJab) Smile*
Leading with humor [30 min]
How to Nurture Humor Leslie Blodgett (Bare Escentuals)

3 Understand how to embed and amplify humor in your

teams and organizations, and how to nurture humor in
others. Practice pitching ideas with humor, and learn
Day 6
5/15
How to Pitch with Humor
(Workshop)
Mickey Meyer (JASH)

Anne Libera (Second City)

Kelly Leonard (Second City)
Pitch Prep
[45 min in teams]
EMBED how to embed humor into your leadership style. How to Pitch with Humor David Hornik (August Capital)
(Delivery) Jon Sherman (Royal Pains)

Day 7 How to Capture Humor Hiroki Asai (Apple) A Closer Look

5/22 [90 min]
Scaling humor
How to Take A Closer Look Seth Meyers (Late Night)

4
Memories fade, quickly. How do we ensure that
moments of levity linger over time? Explore how to
Day 8 How to Create Lee Eisenberg (Quantity Preparing for
capture moments of humor to create lasting bonds and 5/31 Memorability Entertainment) Commencement*
AMPLIFY memories and of equal importance, to reinforce and [2-3 hours]
How to Amplify Humor Dana Fox and Oliver Emmett
amplify cultures of levity. (Team Fox Emmett)

Day 9 How to End with Humor You! Commencement

6/5 Speech
[Endless prep]
How to End with Ice Cream Daryn Dodson (Ben & Jerrys)

* These electronic submissions are due Thursday before class via the course website.
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Creating a Culture of
Levity (and Rigor)
This class is unique in at least two regards: First, we aim to flip the
WE LOVE
classroom experience. What that means is that many of the exercises
OUR GUESTS!
will be done outside of class so as to create more time within the class
for interactive activities and amazing guest speakers. Second, the class
is pass / fail. Yet, we have high expectations of you and the class so
wanted to outline them here:
WE WANT We will get very attached to you after the first
YOU TO class and borderline emotionally dependent (in a
SHOW UP totally casual and non-stalky way). So please
(in many ways) reciprocate (again, in a non-stalky way). But more
than that, we want to make sure this class
delivers value to you. To make this happen, we
expect that you will show up, on time and fully
attentive, and devote considerable effort and
participation. Tardiness and absences (unless
emergencies) are distracting; please dont be
late. Moreover, the use of laptops and tablets is
prohibited because they are total buzz kills that
undermine the culture of collaborative learning.
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We adore our guests almost as much as we
adore you and you will too! They are an
absolutely stellar crowd, and we are lucky to
have them. For most of our unicorn talents
hailing from comedy writing, producing, and
entertainment, this is their first time being
guests in a Stanford class and they are flying
in (on their own dime) from across the country
to meet you all. We want to ensure they feel
appreciated, respected and engaged. As such,
please be prepared for their visits, research
their backgrounds before they come, and
engage with them in thoughtful and
meaningful ways.
Each class, students will deliver introductions
and custom thank yous to the days guests.
Get creative and clever (and even a little weird)
with these! They are important not just for
the reasons listed above but because they
are manifestations of humor and levity in
practice, with the goal of designing meaningful
moments for lasting memories.
Discover: Whats My Style During Day 1

ACTIVITY: ACTIVITY:
Story Banking Humor Audit Reflections
Before Create a personal signature story bank that you can During Reflect on your experience with the humor audit you
Class return to for inspiration. Class completed before class. Document your thoughts. What
surprised you? Were certain sections easier or more
Most people have at least one humorous signature story that difficult? What did you take away from it?
theyve told many times over the years and that kills every time.
What is yours? Now, try and think of 5-6 more. Write down the titles
below, in six words or less.

Note, these signature stories might not involve big defining moments (e.g.,
your epic fail story, you wouldnt believe this story), they might just be stories
of small moments (e.g., the tan socks story, Aunt Gails epic brunch).

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Discover: Whats My Style During Day 1

ACTIVITY: During My Primary / Secondary Business Chemistry style is:

Lets Talk Chemistry Class

PIONEER DRIVER Jot down a few of your key learnings about each of the four
Outgoing Quantitative Business Chemistry styles.
Detail-Averse Logical
Spontaneous Focused
Risk-Seeking Competitive
Adaptable Experimental
Imaginative Deeply Curious

Does this provide any insight into what kind of humor (a) you might
like and (b) might come more naturally to you?

INTEGRATOR GUARDIAN
Diplomatic Methodical
Empathic Reserved
Traditional Detail-Oriented
Relationship-Oriented Practical
Intrinsically Motivated Structured
Non-Confrontational Loyal

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Discover: Whats My Style Before Day 2

ACTIVITY:
Humor Anthropologist
Before Over the next 48 hours,
Class notice moments when

...someone else made people laugh. Jot down what it is that this ...you made someone else laugh. Nice! Go you. Maybe you
person did to make them laugh. What was the situation? What planned it out, or maybe you werent even trying (youre that
specifically was funny? If you laughed too, why did you find it good). What was the situation? What specifically did you do or
funny? say to make them laugh?

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Discover: How Humor Lands During Day 2

ACTIVITY:
Bridges and Ladders
Scan your humor anthropologist moments and categorize them
During Reflect on the Humor Anthropologist activity using against one of the four goals. Given your assessment, which of
Class the Four Goals lens below. these goals resonates with you most?

FOUR GOALS OF HUMOR IN THE WORKPLACE

Research reveals four primary goals of using humor in the workplace:

Build Bonds Create connection and build trust among

The Bridge team members

Increase Power Boost ones own status and influence;

The Ladder note, you might increase power by using
Are there any goals that might not come naturally to you - but you
self-deprecating humor too
think you might benefit from exploring or stretching into? Which
ones, and also write down some contexts where you might try to
Defuse Tension Reduce group negativity and stress, soften use them.
The Release Valve critical feedback

Have Fun Avoid taking self and job too seriously,

The Moment make work more enjoyable

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Discover: How Humor Lands During Day 2

ACTIVITY:
But, Really
During Choose one or two stories from (a) your Story Banking
Class exercise, or (b) those told to make someone laugh during
your Humor Anthropologist exercise preferably ones that
have use in a business context. Deconstruct these one or
two stories into the below components.

Six word title What Im saying What Im really saying Goal(s) accomplished
for story / moment (Key components of story) (Key information conveyed) (Four Goals or others)

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Discover: How Use Humor (Strategically) During Day 2

ACTIVITY:
Find the Elephant IN PAIRS
In your team, practice finding the elephant and naming it. Choose a scenario, name the elephant. Choose the moment you
During
Use the below prompts to guide you. Choose one team liked the most from your brainstorm. Set the scene: who are the
Class
member to present to the class (in one minute or less). players and what is the elephant in the room?

IN PAIRS
Find the elephant. Brainstorm moments past or upcoming
when there was or will be an elephant in the room. These can be
in a business context, a personal context, a romantic context, etc.
Write down as many of these moments as you can think of below.

Call out the elephant. Decide what could be said to call out the
elephant in the room. Be specific! Write out the exact script,
including important notes on delivery.

WITH YOUR TEAM

Share with your team. Take turns pitching your scenarios and
elephant call outs. Choose one pairs scenario to present in class,
and spend some time punching it up as a team.

Your presentation to the class should include (a) 2-3 sentences

setting up the scenario and the elephant, and (b) a role-played
delivery of calling out the elephant. Feel free to involve all team
members in the role play!

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Play: How to Talk Funny Before Day 3

ACTIVITY: Were there any tags? Why did they work?

Stand-Up Breakdown (Optional)
Before This is totally optional! Not at all required. But good for you,
Class like delicious-tasting medicine. Watch How Louis CK Tells a
Joke for inspiration and as a primer for Mondays class.
Then, choose a favorite comedian of your own someone
whos humor you love and find a clip of them in action.

My favorite comedian + clip description:

Lets break this down! What was the premise or setup? How What other comedic surprises worked well for you? (e.g., colorful
was it set up in a compelling way? Was anything done to narrow examples, descriptive language, dramatization through physical
the premise as the punchline approached? gestures, moments of emphasis, counterpoints)

What was the punchline?

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Play: How to Talk Funny Before Day 4

ACTIVITY:
My story, explored. Use the below space as helpful to draft your
Story Time (Optional) story. Remember to submit this electronically by Thursday.

Before This is totally optional! Not at all required. Might build karma.
Class Write one of your signature stories with humor, leveraging the
principles youve learned about writing and talking funny. If
you would like feedback from David Nihill, submit your
written story (250-500 words) electronically by 4/27, 11pm.

Six word title of my story:

My goal in using this story in a professional context. Jot down

why you might incorporate this story in business. Its alright if
youre not entirely sure -- this is primarily a writing exercise, and
we want you to have fun playing with your stories without
worrying too much about how you might use them. Still, its worth
a moment of thought.

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Play: How to Design for Levity Before Day 4

ACTIVITY:
Secret Mission!
Before Practice humor! Make someone laugh (or at least smile) when
Class you wouldnt otherwise. Document these moments across
the four challenge levels. Be ready to share at least one of
these with the class.

Level 1: A friend Level 3: A professional email

Incorporate humor in a way you wouldnt otherwise with a friend. You Incorporate written humor into a professional email. (And when you
could try telling one of your signature stories or doing something are eventually hired, you can thank us in chocolates, a funny email,
special that makes them laugh or brings levity. and cold hard cash.)

Level 2: An interaction that would otherwise be transactional Level 4: A class (thats not ours; you already crack us up)
Incorporate humor into an otherwise transactional moment (e.g., while Incorporate humor into a comment or class presentation. If you get
checking out at Coupa or Arbuckle, while buying movie tickets, during caught, Maggie Neale made you do this.
your annual prostate exam).

Especially for Levels 1 and 2, how might you incorporate principles from our field
trip to IDEO around designing for levity? Are there ways in which you can
consciously design moments that will make these folks laugh or smile?

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Embed: How to Pitch with Humor Before Day 5

ACTIVITY:
My Bio Made You Smile Gregg Spiridellis, CEO Guy and Co-Founder of JibJab
Back in ancient times, 1998 to be exact, two brothers bore witness to an animated
dancing doodie streaming over a 56K modem and it changed their lives forever.
They scraped together a few thousand dollars and started JibJab in a Brooklyn
Before Craft a short (3-5 sentence) bio that incorporates humor. garage. Since then, Gregg and Evan Spiridellis grew JibJab into a nationally
Class To the right, youll find inspiration! Use the space below to recognized brand by being obsessed about the quality of the programming and
draft as helpful and submit your final bio electronically by products they produced. Today, they are expanding their mission by creating
StoryBots, a set of educational apps and books inspired by the five children
11pm on Thursday 5/11.
between the ages of two and eight that they have between them.

Joel Stein, Writer, TIME

Joel Stein grew up in Edison, NJ, went to Stanford, and in 1997, became a staff
writer for TIME. In 1998, he began writing his sophomoric humor column that now
appears in the magazine every week. Hes also written fourteen cover stories for
TIME, and has contributed to The New Yorker, GQ, Esquire, Details, Food & Wine,
Travel & Leisure, Businessweek, Wired, Real Simple, Sunset, Playboy, Elle, Los
Angeles Times, and many more magazines, most of which have gone out of
business. He has appeared as a talking head on any TV show that asks him,
taught a class in humor writing at Princeton, and wrote a weekly column for the
back page of Entertainment Weekly and the opinion section of the Los Angeles
Times. This is the most hes ever written in third person.

Leslie Blodgett, Founder and former CEO of bareMinerals beauty

As a kid, Leslie Blodgett was known to cuddle up with the obituaries while
dreaming of the future obliteration and ultimate death of heavy, chemical-based
makeup. Her passion for beauty products led her at the helm of a SF-based body
care company. bareMinerals grew into a global beauty brand selling to Shiseido
in 2010 for $1.7B. She credits her company's success to her therapy-inducing
obsession with making women happy.

Mickey Meyer, President and COO, JASH

I'm a lover of comedy, and of systems that allow creators to thrive. I'm a student
of entertainments past, and hopefully a contributor to it's future. I was lucky
enough to be on the Hollywood Reporters list of 35 Next Gen executives under
35, and on Forbes' 30 under 30 list. That means I'm a real person now, right?

Sara Blakely, Founder of Spanx

Spanx founder Sara Blakely was getting ready for a party when she realized she
didnt have the right undergarment to provide a smooth look under white pants.
Armed with scissors and sheer genius, she cut the feet off her control top
pantyhose and the Spanx revolution began! Spanx has secured its place in
womens hearts and in pop-culture with daily mentions everywhere from CNN to
SNL. As the sole owner of her company Spanx and with a net worth of over a
billion dollars, Sara always knew that she wanted to help women. Though in her
wildest dreams, she never thought she would have started with their butts.

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Embed: How to Pitch with Humor Before Day 6

ACTIVITY: Your company or product idea, explored. Use the below space
Pitch Prep as helpful to jot down notes you might use when honing the pitch
during the workshop in class. (No need to go deep on research
or spend a ton of time on this. Its just to seed your thinking.)
Before On Monday, we will have a workshop with Second City to
Class incorporate humor into pitches. Your team will then deliver
a one-minute pitch to a venture capitalist as well as a
Hollywood producer, writer, and pitch master.

IN TEAMS
Choose your company or product. Before coming into class,
decide as a team what product or company you will pitch for
funding and do some research on the idea. Feel free to use an
example you are involved with or invested in. For example, if a
team member has started a company or is working on a product
and has already developed a pitch deck for it, you can use this as
a starting point for class.

Our company or product idea:

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Capture: How to Take a Closer Look Before Day 7

ACTIVITY:
Brainstorm topics. Around what important topic do you have
A Closer Look passion? It can be social, political, business related, etc. What
commentary would you like to make? What information would
you like to bring to light?
Before Explore a forum to make and scale important social,
Class political, and business commentary on topics that are
tough to discuss through humor. In writing pairs, create
the script for a 30-second segment of A Closer Look, about
whatever important topic you feel passionate. Submit your
written segment (~100 words) electronically by 11pm on
Thursday 5/18.

IN PAIRS
Laugh and discuss. Watch segments of A Closer Look from
Late Night with Seth Meyers. Discuss how Seth uses the
principles weve learned in class (joke structure, callbacks, rule
of 3, etc). What other tactics does he use to make social and
political commentary with humor in these segments? Write. Rewrite. Repeat. This should be an iterative process.
As helpful, you may consider working independently and (a)
reading ideas aloud to each other, (b) passing individually
written drafts to each other for punch ups and revisions.

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Capture: How to Amplify Humor Before Day 8

ACTIVITY:
Preparing for Commencement
Before Imagine it is 20 years from now. A long long time away.
Class You are a badass leader who has inspired millions by
being visionary, compassionate and effective and,
importantly, by using humor to lead. (You are also quite
good looking).

Stanford has asked you to return to give a commencement

speech. On the final day of class, you will deliver one
minute of that speech. You may choose to present the first
minute, the last minute or a one-minute story baked into
the middle of your speech. Your goal: make the audience
laugh, learn, and remember.

Create a single slide with a full-screen visual and a 6-word

title of your speech. In the notes section of this slide,
include the script for your one-minute talk. Submit your
one slide and script (~200 words) electronically by 11pm
on Thursday 5/25.

Be ready for feedback during class from the Humor

Editorial Team. After receiving these notes, you will revise
and submit your final commencement speech via a google
slide deck to be shared in class.

For inspiration, see the course website for samples or here:

http://www.ifc.com/2014/06/9-comedian-commencement-speeches

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For Inspiration
THE HUMOR CODE YES PLEASE
Peter McGraw Amy Poehler

DO YOU TALK FUNNY BORN STANDING UP

David Nihill Steve Martin

YES, AND BOSSYPANTS

Kelly Leonard Tina Fey

THE COMIC TOOLBOX MAN MADE; A STUPID QUEST

John Vorhaus FOR MASCULINITY
Joel Stein

THE COMEDY BIBLE

ELEMENTS OF STYLE (4TH ED.)
Judy Carter
William Strunk & EB While

CREATIVE CONFIDENCE THE DRAGONFLY EFFECT

Tom & David Kelley Jennifer Aaker & Andy Smith

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Appendix

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Important Indicators of
your Humor Context
HIGHER STATUS
LOWER STATUS

NEGATIVE ENVIRONMENT POSITIVE ENVIRONMENT

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Notes

Life literally abounds
in comedy if you just
look around you.
- Mel Brooks

Notes
Humor is
perhaps a sense
of intellectual
perspective: an
awareness that some
things are really
important, others
not; and that the
two kinds are most
oddly jumbled in
everyday affairs.
- Christopher Morley
Notes

You dont stop

laughing because
you grow old. You
grow old because
you stop laughing.
- Michael Pritchard
Notes

Youre only given
a little spark of
madness. You
mustnt lose it.
- Robin Williams